LogFAQs > #973010197

Episode 13: The Storyteller

More negotiations.

Sisko cares neither for O'Brien's complaints nor Kira's advice. Decent mediator. Well, until he seems to goad Varis into making concessions. Without seeing the negotiations themselves, it's difficult to not read that as him taking a side and being quite patronising in the process. He treats her far more decently in the other meeting they have. Pushing Jake away from Varis with his finger is brilliant.

Odo reprimands the kids. Has the air of a strict teacher about him. Enjoys himself with it, too.

Bashir is so innocent that everyone's starting to come across as dicks for the way they treat him. Watching his anxious body language, its clear how desperately he wants to talk to O'Brien. Seems to understand that the chief isn't in the mood, but keeps it to himself. Enjoys all the attention this Sirah business gives them and graciously receives the guests. Recognises that O'Brien is more comfortable with a bit of formality.

Dax briefly does her job.

Jake really wants to play baseball. "She's alright" is a weirdly understated response. Arrogant bastard just invites himself into her room, which is almost admirable. Not even half as smooth as he thinks he is, but it apparently doesn't matter. Makes a valid point about both Nog and far too many blokes in general. Why is it so difficult to string together more than a couple of words when encountering a girl? I appreciate that for all their juvenilism, they genuinly care about Varis and don't just use her as a prop.

O'Brien is another one who seems to despise Bashir on principle. Has a tired patience and politeness for the attempts at conversation. Watching Meaney's face drop at each new line is a treat. Surprised by Bashir's desire to be informal. Very much a normal man thrown into insane situations. Bit flat when repeating the story, but grows in some confidence. Understandably bricking it when he's chosen to be the Sirah and rants about the madness he's been thrown in. I imagine he'd get on well with Arthur Dent. Stunned by three gorgeous women in front of him, but does the right thing. Reduced to snarking at everything at the climax. Comes away a bit more fond of Bashir.

Quark delivers some drinks in a patronising manner. I'd charge her, too. Briefly puts the moves on Kira.

Kira offers advice, but mainly acts like helping negotiations is beneath her (and considering that all parties in all disputes like this so far seem to take it as a challenge how much they can strain everyone's patience, I'm starting to adopt her philosophy). Still, she puts on a mask of cheeriness. Desperately needs a drink and I think I'd be an even more frequent bargoer if I had to tolerate the typical disputes this franchise offers.

Nog has a correct opinion on baseball. As lecherous as the rest of his species. Stalking the lass is obviously creepy. Takes awhile to decide if he wants to sit down. They try far too hard and act like they're about to start pawing at her at points. Wandering about actually looking for her is also a bit creepy. It's good that he shuts down the mentions of Sisko because that sequence was starting to resemble vapid children's TV. The oatmeal is actually kind of funny, though the uproarious laughter starts to strain. I appreciate Ferengi culture lending itself to the resolution. Can't convincingly praise his dad's intelligence.

Varis has some good willpower behind her, but is a little insecure in her age. Outrage is the correct reaction to the weirdos hovering outside her room. Bewildered by the bucket heist and, to be fair, even in context, its a bit odd. Makes a reasonable concession, though im still not thrilled by Sisko basically leading her there. Astute enough to recognise what Jake and Nog are doing, but mature enough to be above it, which makes her quite a triumph of a character. Her opposite number is a little smarmy.

The tetrarch being a young girl is meant to come as a shock, but Sisko and Kira's initial reaction comes off as weirdly prejudiced. Bajor continues to be a beautiful planet. Some decent shots of the negotiation table. The Dal'Rok is a nifty cloud formation. The whole sequence, including the Sirah's lines is done akin to a religious epic. That sequence in the Sirah's house, with the apprentice matching O'Brien's movements outside the window, panning around the room as they talk, leading to a knife attack when we get to the mirror and having Bashir run in to get involved when we return to the window, all in what seems like one take, is utterly glorious. Clever to have Varis finally sit down when she starts to trust Sisko.

I'm a bit done with the endless disputes our main characters have to mediate, so, I was, and this may be unfair to the episode, a little checked out from the start. Varis and her people probably did luck into a bit of extra land from the Cardassians' nonsense, but the fact that i cant guarantee it just goes to show how increasingly disinterested im getting in the politicalbabble of these stories. Even if she was in the wrong, and im saying this as someone who finds the prime directive a complete joke at the best of times, Sisko still overstepped a bit in my opinion. Jake and Nog's story was probably perceived as quite harmless at the time and them being kids goes a long way to excusing some of it, but with a modern lens (and I'd be lying if I said I was seeing it through any other eye. I'm not churlish enough to harp on 90s special effects too much, but I'll attack the actual content from contemporary standards if I feel its justified) it can charitably be called difficult, though actually caring about Varis as a person puts it head and shoulders above most examples of this type of story. This leaves Bashir and O'Brien's story the only one I don't have any real objection to, at all. There is a good theme of disparate people coming together and these two's building friendship is a decent microcosm of both the village they're in and the two groups Sisko is dealing with. I particularly like that the story is framed as a religious epic that united a community. Its a pretty honest way of handling beliefs, even if the actual society is held together by an ethically dubious lie that, unusually for this franchise, gets left alone. Still, though, the act of believing being enough to actually make their myths true is a pretty great take on spirituality. Hovath and Varis provide nice mirrors for each other as people who have fucked up, but eventually grow to be worthy successors.

A few small misgivings and negotiations are a framing device I'm starting to tire of, but I found this to be a mostly grand tale. I already think this is the most consistently good season 1 we've had.

Progressing onto Progress.